


reciprocation

by berrirose



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M, Volleyball, not dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-03 00:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4079302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berrirose/pseuds/berrirose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Kageyama wants is for Hinata to tell him that he loves him - something that sounded a lot better in his head. After all, he says it to everyone else, so why not him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. synchronization

**Author's Note:**

> Another repost from my tumblr account, but this time I was too lazy to change the names ;^ w^)

It was only logical - really, that’s all it was.

Kageyama isn’t unfamiliar with the phrase “I love you”. He’s heard it, several times in fact, whether uttered by some child passing by him on the way to the train station, by a teddy bear on a television show playing on public monitors, on those romantic comedies Tanaka (covertly) watches with his sister every Thursday night, or every  _single_  time someone does something even  _remotely_  nice for Hinata.

The way he sees it, Hinata uttered the phrase the same way he tossed his sets:

Freely, knowingly, and  _never towards the setter himself._

His first time hearing the phrase was on the way home from training, stopping by a certain convenience store for the best pick-me-up fifty yen and a (mildly) persuasive Tanaka could buy. True to his promise to Hinata, upperclassman Nishinoya (or “Nishinoya-senpai” as he so preferred it) spared a portion of his savings to get the red-headed first year an ice cream treat.

“Whoa, I can really have this?” Hinata ogles in bewilderment, apparently not having encountered a soda-flavored popsicle ever in his life before that very moment. The prideful nod he receives in return only seems to widen his eyes even further. “Really? Thank you thank you thankyou _thankyou_ —“

His mantra of gratification goes on for no less than twenty-or-so repetitions - Nishinoya looking more rejuvenated with each one. And Kageyama’s fairly certain that he would’ve tuned out if it weren’t for the slight switch in tone he caught around the nineteenth time.

There was a slight lilt in the final  _you_ , and a short, sharp intake of breath followed by a jubilant, booming “I love you!”

Kageyama blinks, his chewing adjourned as he glances at those beside him. At the very least he expects the phrase to have elicited  _some_  sort of surprised reaction, however the two upperclassmen look nothing but amused.

If anything, Nishinoya looks as if he’d just won the lottery. “Don’t worry, that’s what us _senpais_  are for!”

The remark is followed by a fit of laughter that’s soon joined in by Tanaka, and Kageyama makes a mental note that “I love you” is a phrase that is apparently free to be tossed around.

Kageyama’s ability to adapt is a strong one. He’s always one to observe - to take notes on every little thing that makes up everything around him. To not be aware of your surroundings could - to his assumption - lead to the downfall of a setter such as himself. He took things as they came, and never looked back on them.

Yet if that’s true, it doesn’t quite explain the pinch of annoyance he felt back at the road that night.

It doesn’t explain why, three days later, the annoyance only returned when the same phrase was uttered again amidst a terribly long appreciation rant on Asahi’s spiking ability, or when Tanaka managed to divert a stray ball from hitting Hinata square in the face, or when Suga gave him a couple of pointers on how to handle receives effectively, or when Daichi found the training shoes he apparently misplaced in the locker room, or when Yamaguchi spared him a sip of water when Hinata so desperately needed it.

Not that Kageyama minded the fact that he’s probably the only person on the team that it hasn’t been said to.

_Not at all._

His quaint rumination is interrupted when the whistle calls for him to be switched back into play, the 3 vs. 3 setup they were currently trying out allowed for tighter areas of play and a strain on communication - but, at this point, it’s all about getting into the grind of playing. The score is  _24 - 18_  in Kageyama’s favor, and it’ll all be over if they get this next spike and—

The piercing thump not seconds later tells him that the volleyball has been successfully blocked and grounded by the opposition.  _24-19_  - not a worrying setback since they’re still ahead, but certainly the game extender Daichi anticipated when he broke Hinata onto the other team a couple of points ago. Now, it’s not unlike Kageyama to get worked up over losing a point, however—

“Oh?” muses a voice from across the net. “Looks like the  _King_  is feeling a bit rusty without his  _Queen_.”

—in  _this_  particular situation, there  _may_  have been a little extra weight on the scales. And Kageyama is seconds away from giving that bespectacled bastard a very  _thorough_  piece of his mind when their impending spat is interrupted.

“That was  _super_  awesome - you totally saved us with that block!”

The voice is cheery, bright, and - to his horror -  _Hinata’s_.

In fact, it’s strikingly familiar - every detail from the soft lilt in his words to the short intake of breath in anticipation reverberating in his head before collapsing into the realization that the only three syllables worthy of such preparation were about to resound across the court. And, he draws from the knowing look Tsukishima chances at him (that bastard), he too knows  _exactly_  what’s about to happen.

But it’s only a phrase.

_“I love you!”_

… right?

_“Damn it! Why do you never say that you love_ me _?”_

The full pierce of Kageyama’s words is left to echo and bask in the stunned silence it instigates - save for the half-hearted sound of a volleyball being dropped on serve somewhere behind him.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original tumblr post is [here!](http://berrirose.tumblr.com/post/91759300209/synchronization-kagehina)


	2. harmonization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After declaring his need to be loved in the middle of a practice match and subsequently confining himself to the depths of the boy's locker room, Kageyama settles for meeting Hinata halfway.

If you asked fifteen year old Kageyama Tobio what he was doing in a locker room with the door locked and lights off, curled up on one side of a bench while blatantly ignoring the voices calling out to him on the other side of the door, he’d probably refuse to answer.

(Lest he say something  _else_  completely stupid.)

“ _Pffft—_ ” Tsukishima managed in between snickers. “I can’t believe he—“ another chuckle “—did you see the _look on his face_ after he said it—“

Pointedly ignoring (if ignoring meant leaving Yamaguchi in charge of calming him down before he dies of oxygen starvation) the current episode the blocker was undergoing, a quartet consisting of Daichi, Sugawara, Nishinoya, and Tanaka are standing by the foot of the door, the remainder of the team pushed to cleanup duty whilst they sort  _this_ situation out.

“Hey, open this door!” Tanaka bellows, banging harshly on the wooden surface and using the throatiest voice he could muster. “I gotta run home and catch the new episode of Endless Lo— _Monster Truck Rally._ ” Before he can manage to hit it again, Daichi catches his arm, giving him a smile that said  _‘break this door and you’ll be paying for more than just the damages’_.

With the constant reverberation of Tanaka’s knocking out of the way, Nishinoya uses the opportunity to voice out his distress. “Kageyamaaa,” he whines, lingering on the ‘a’ until his voice gave out, “Asahi and I have a movie to watch, if you make us late you’re paying for the tickets!”

Meanwhile, said ace is standing by the railing, concerned about the wellbeing of another member. “You okay?”

Hinata nods, not having said anything since the incident - for a lack of a better term - on the court. Asahi is left unconvinced, seeing that the shorter boy is obviously in some sort of deep thought - an expression that isn’t often present on the other’s face. He decides not to push it, exhaling a sigh and leaning back on the rail to watch the others attempt to coax Kageyama out of hiding.

If there’s anything Asahi knew about the setter, it’s that - once he’s set on something - there’s no stopping him. So, testament to that belief, unless something big happens, he isn’t coming out any time soon. 

The third year sighs, sifting a hand through his hair and turning to watch dusk sink down - a very alarming indication of how late it is. “Hinata,” he begins, concerned, “I don’t mean to push you into anything you’re not comfortable with, but do you think—“

Hinata’s not there.

In fact, Asahi doesn’t seem to be the only one left speechless by the sudden displacement of their middle blocker. The group out front are stood still, parted down the middle to make way for the red-haired face of mild determination now standing before of the door.

Inside, Kageyama’s stomach sinks in anticipation at the onslaught of unusual silence.

Two knocks.

(Loud taps, really.)

“Hey, stupid, let me in.”

Outside, they stare at the back of Hinata’s head in bewilderment - and Tanaka’s milliseconds away from dishing out indignant shouts of  _“That’s it? That’s your plan!?”_  and _“Well_ I _could’ve done that if I wanted to!”_ (missing regular Thursday programming made him quite cranky) before two clicks sound through the open hallway.

A hand jumps out and yanks the redhead into the locker room, slamming the door shut once again before anyone could even  _think_  about attempting to block it.

* * *

“ … “

“ … “

Once inside, the two refuse to look directly at each other - Kageyama having taken a good two steps back as a precaution. He doesn’t what the precaution is  _against_  but there’s a feeling in his gut that tells him that keeping a good distance away would be best for his sanity.

He remains silent, expecting Hinata to drum up something to say within the next few seconds or so (he  _must’ve_  thought this through, right?) but, as an entire minute ticks by without a word, Kageyama decides to speak first. “Why’d you come in here?”

‘ _Because you yanked me in here, stupid.’_  is the answer Hinata bites himself back from saying. “I’ve come to get you out of this room!” He sounds like an ecstatic seven-year-old, planting his feet on the ground and raising his shoulders just a little bit higher than before.

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“By—uh.” His triumphant demeanor falters (not as if it was doing anything but making this all the more amusing for Kageyama) and he scratches his cheek. “…I dunno,” he mumbles before looking up at Kageyama and shrugging his shoulders. “I didn’t think I’d make it this far,” he adds for clarification.

For a moment, all the setter can do is stare, dumbfounded as to how to react. In the end, all his frustration channels into a palm that almost slams into his own face. “You—“ hisses Kageyama, mouth open and unable to articulate a word, a sound, an  _anything_  worthy enough to describe the absolute  _stupidity_  of this whole thing.

_Bold. Reckless. Naive._

“— _idiot_.”

_And undeniably_  Hinata _._

The shorter boy seems surprised at that. His eyes only widen even further at the sight of Kageyama taking a step back, frame beginning to shake with what seemed like … laughter?

Kageyama and laughing are two words he never thought would be in the same sentence unless the word “isn’t” was between them. It’s not the most attractive laugh, sure - not as if they’re meant to be in the first place (and Hinata’s fairly sure he heard a snort and a choke somewhere in there too) - but he couldn’t care less about that at the moment.

As if on queue, the setter appears to catch himself, suddenly becoming  _extremely_  aware of what he’d been doing. Kageyama seems to shrink down, mouth open and moving mutely as he attempts to come up with a good way to brush it all off.

But all that comes to a screeching halt as he feels Hinata step in front of him, a little ways away, and lift his head up to face him.

This time, there’s no lilt in his voice, no short, sharp intake of breath - but there’s a drop, a light hitch in the way he inhales, and a concentrated carefulness in the way his lips draw apart. It starts off as a hushed exhale, and Hinata’s eyes darting up, down, left, right -  _anywhere_  but the boy in front of him.

“I l-like you, Kageyama.”

…

…  _like?_

And so, chaos ensued.

“What?” The sound is short, sharp, and leaves behind a short silence. His hands snap out to clamp around Hinata’s shoulders, shaking him violently. “ _What do you mean you ‘like’ me!?”_

_“W-Wh-What do you mean ‘what do you mean’!”_  Hinata yells back, his body overheating and his head short-circuiting. “It means  _‘I like you’_ , volleyball-for-brains!”

The reply only seems to agitate him further. “Why do you ‘ _like’_  me when you go around telling  _everyone_  that you ‘ _love’_  them?” He’s stopped shaking the other - much to Hinata’s relief - and is now standing over him, hands clenched by his sides and nails digging into the flesh. “Do you like them  _more_  than me, then _!?_ ”

“What? No!”

“Then say it!”

“N-No!”

“Say it!”

_“No!”_

_“Say it!”_

_“Shut up!”_  Without warning, Hinata grabs the other’s shirt and yanks him down to knock a rough kiss against his cheek, right on the corner of his lips. “I’m not saying it again, stupid.”  Before Kageyama can drum up some sort of retort, Hinata seems to wither down - exhausted from trying to process the universe of what just happened. He sinks down onto the floor, dragging them both down with his grip on Kageyama’s shirt. “’s too embarrassing.”

Something clicks in Kageyama’s head, and - though a bit reluctantly - he understands, and lets his head rest over Hinata’s - bright orange hair fuzzy against the underside of his chin. This didn’t go exactly how he would’ve hoped, but it could’ve gone worse (at least he didn’t have to relocate to the boy’s bathroom). No sense forcing Hinata into something he doesn’t want to do, after all.

But, that doesn’t mean he can’t give him a little push. “I like you too, Hinata.”

_He’ll get him to say it someday._

The blocker pushes away and looks up, expression surprised until fading into one so bright and genuine and  _happy_  that it’s one of the most beautiful things Kageyama’s ever seen. And, with that, the setter leans down, closing the space between him and his new queen in a soft, sweet kiss.

_But, until then, he’ll just have to wait._

…

“What the hell’s taking them so long?!”

“Tanaka calm down, I’m sure Hinata’s handling the situation just fi—“

_“To hell with that! I’m breaking the goddamn door down!”_

_“No wai—“_

And so, the day ended on a rather interesting note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original tumblr post is [here](http://berrirose.tumblr.com/post/93880403514/harmonization-kagehina)


End file.
